Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Dangerous Faith

Biographies & Memoirs

World-changers. Rebels. Rejecters of the status quo. Throughout history, Christians were never meant to have a safe faith. Highlighting 50 people throughout the millennia, this book is a compilation of faith, facts, and art that celebrates the faith lives of spiritual giants and inspires you to grow in your own personal faith.Dangerous Faith is a collection of essays and inspiration about Christians who have changed the world. This four-color gift book features:the exploration of 50 diverse heroes of the Christian faith, including historical figures, cultural icons, political leaders, saints, and martyrsbiographical information on the 50 people featured, including Coretta Scott King and Susan B. Anthonyportraiture art and an easy-to-follow layouta presentation page for gifting and a ribbon markerThis valuable resource is perfect for:men and women interested in learning more about the Christian faith, church history, and spiritual disciplinehomeschooling families or parents wanting to teach their children about historical Christianitya baptism gift or welcome gift for new church membersgifting to loved ones who enjoy biographies and historyBe inspired by spiritual heroes from many eras in history up to today and make their strength your own. If you enjoy this book, check out Dangerous Prayers.

Making It

Biographies & Memoirs

The Sunday Times bestseller by Jay Blades, the beloved star of hit BBC One show The Repair Shop. Making It is an inspirational memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless.We had our hardships, and there were times that we didn’t have a lot of food and didn’t have a lot of money. But that didn’t stop me having the time of my life.In his book, Jay shares the details of his life, from his childhood growing up sheltered and innocent on a council estate in Hackney, to his adolescence when he was introduced to violent racism at secondary school, to being brutalized by police as a teen, to finally becoming the presenter of the hit primetime show The Repair Shop.Jay reflects on strength, weakness and what it means to be a man. He questions the boundaries society places on male vulnerability and how letting himself be nurtured helped him flourish into the person he is today. An expert at giving a second life to cherished items, Jay’s positivity, pragmatism and kindness shine through these pages and show that with care and love, anything can be mended.

Looking for Bob Dylan

Biographies & Memoirs

Ohne Bob Dylan wären die 1960er nicht die Sechziger gewesen. Das Jahrzehnt war wie Krieg zwischen Jung und Alt. Wer war und ist Bob Dylan? Ein genialer Musiker und ein Poet? Ein politischer Akteur, ein Visionär oder ein Prophet? Ein musikalischer Pilger oder Revolutionär? Ein Feldherr mit Songs als Waffen? Eine Illusion oder ein Freund? Warum bekam mit Bob Dylan 2016 ausgerechnet eine Ikone der jugendlichen Hoffnung auf eine bessere Welt den Nobelpreis, während die Welt wie rasend zerfällt? Meine Erzählung wirf einen Blick auf Bob Dylan und die Zeitgeschichte. Ich möchte seine seine soziale und politische Bedeutung herausstellen, das, was er in den Köpfen seiner Generation bedeutet hat hat, deren Stimme er nie sein wollte - meistens zumindest.

Life of Johnson, Volume 1

Biographies & Memoirs

This is a biographical book. To Johnson, whose supreme enjoyment was the exercise of his reason, the disturbance or obscuration of that faculty was the evil most to be dreaded. Insanity, therefore, was the object of his most dismal apprehension; and he fancied himself seized by it, or approaching to it, at the very time when he was giving proofs of a more than ordinary soundness and vigour of judgement. That his own diseased imagination should have so far deceived him, is strange; but it is stranger still that some of his friends should have given credit to his groundless opinion, when they had such undoubted proofs that it was totally fallacious; though it is by no means surprising that those who wish to depreciate him, should, since his death, have laid hold of this circumstance, and insisted upon it with very unfair.

Himmler según la correspondencia con su esposa (1927-1945)

Biographies & Memoirs

El retrato íntimo de Heinrich Himmler, funesto jefe de las SS y padre de la Solución Final, a través de las cartas con su mujer.Durante años se pensó que las cartas de Himmler a su esposa Marga se habían perdido definitivamente. Sesenta años después del suicidio de éste, reaparecieron en Tel Aviv, y hoy nos permiten sumergirnos de una forma inédita en la vida privada, y en la mente, de una de las figuras más importantes del régimen nazi.Frente a la idea generalizada de que, tras su nombramiento como Reichsführer SS, Heinrich Himmler se «fundió» sin más en la organización, sus cartas revelan su estrecha relación con Hitler desde los años veinte y confirman que era el gran ideador de la Solución Final.El que fue uno de los mayores criminales del siglo XX era un hombre que se debatía entre la banalidad y la vanidad, entre la distancia y la cercanía con su familia, preocupado por construirse una esfera privada armoniosa al tiempo que organizaba, de manera cotidiana, la persecución y el exterminio en masa.En su última carta, del 17 de abril de 1945, Himmler se despide con un «Heil Hitler! Con amor, vuestro papi». Por aquellos días, a espaldas del Fürher, se esforzaba por negociar secretamente con los aliados. Unos días más tarde, el 22 de mayo, ingirió una cápsula de cianuro que le permitió eludir su comparecencia ante los vencedores.

Grant

Biographies & Memoirs

The #1 New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2017“Eminently readable but thick with import . . . Grant hits like a Mack truck of knowledge.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates, The AtlanticPulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow shows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency. Before the Civil War, Grant was flailing. His business ventures had ended dismally, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. But in war, Grant began to realize his remarkable potential, soaring through the ranks of the Union army, prevailing at the battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign, and ultimately defeating the legendary Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Along the way, Grant endeared himself to President Lincoln and became his most trusted general and the strategic genius of the war effort. Grant’s military fame translated into a two-term presidency, but one plagued by corruption scandals involving his closest staff members. More important, he sought freedom and justice for black Americans, working to crush the Ku Klux Klan and earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass, who called him “the vigilant, firm, impartial, and wise protector of my race.” After his presidency, he was again brought low by a dashing young swindler on Wall Street, only to resuscitate his image by working with Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which are recognized as a masterpiece of the genre. With lucidity, breadth, and meticulousness, Chernow finds the threads that bind these disparate stories together, shedding new light on the man whom Walt Whitman described as “nothing heroic... and yet the greatest hero.” Chernow’s probing portrait of Grant's lifelong struggle with alcoholism transforms our understanding of the man at the deepest level. This is America's greatest biographer, bringing movingly to life one of our finest but most underappreciated presidents. The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary.Named one of the best books of the year by Goodreads • Amazon • The New York Times • Newsday • BookPage • Barnes and Noble • Wall Street Journal

Atlantic High

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1980, Buckley gathered together his friends and set out to sail across the Atlantic. This is what he correctly describes as a “celebration” of that thirty-day event. Here are the calms and the storms, the melodrama and the rumination, the wine and the song, the navigation and the introspection that in Buckley’s distinctive blend capture the imagination of sailors and non-sailors, amuse the lighthearted and the dour, and engross the reader who wishes he were aboard, as also the reader who thanks heaven that he is not.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

Biographies & Memoirs

Skyros Publishing is dedicated to reproducing the finest books ever written and letting readers of all ages experience a classic for the first time or revisit a past favorite. Olaudah Equiano was a freed slave who lived in London during the 18th century.Equiano was influential in the movement to end the slave trade and wrote a popular biography on his experiences.

Tim Cook

Biographies & Memoirs

Biografia narra como o CEO da Apple transformou a empresa em uma marca de 1 trilhão de dólaresQuando Steve Jobs morreu, muita gente se perguntou qual seria o destino da Apple. Afinal, Jobs não era apenas seu fundador, mas também o rosto de uma das maiores marcas do planeta. Sua morte deixou um grande vazio, e na época era difícil imaginar alguém que um dia pudesse substituí-lo à altura. Quando as especulações começaram, especialistas e público estavam prontos para fazer suas apostas sobre o novo grande líder do ramo. Nem todos chegaram a pensar, é claro, em um cara discreto do setor operacional. Um cara como Tim Cook.Escolhido pelo próprio Jobs para ficar em seu lugar durante afastamentos pontuais anteriores, Cook não gostava muito de aparecer. Nos últimos 8 anos, ele enfrentou embates com o governo, denúncias de péssimas condições de trabalho e críticas que iam da falta de inovação à irresponsabilidade ecológica. Para muitos, esses desafios poderiam ter parecido grandes demais, mas, sob seu comando, a Apple superou cada um deles, abrindo caminho para novas iniciativas ambientais e políticas de diversidade, além de ter se tornado um exemplo no ramo tecnológico quanto a privacidade.Esta biografia atual apresenta pela primeira vez uma visão completa dos anos de Cook na Apple — de sua contratação ainda jovem para o setor de operações até os desafios como CEO. Recheada de bastidores e entrevistas com nomes que ajudaram a moldar a empresa como é hoje, traz um vislumbre das mudanças e dos novos rumos traçados por Cook enquanto tenta alcançar seu ideal: fazer da Apple — e do mundo — um lugar melhor.

Curie

Biographies & Memoirs

A striking biography of Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person ever to win Nobel Prizes in two disciplines. Marie Curie is most famous for her pioneering work in the field of radioactivity and for discovering two new elements, polonium and radium. Curie not only broke scientific barriers but defied the gender expectations of her time amidst a male-dominated scientific community. This revised edition of Curie, with a new introduction from the author, debunks myths about Curie, rejecting the notion of her as cold and reserved and recasting her as the dynamic and lively woman she truly was. Sarah Dry illuminates Curie’s personal and professional struggles: the demands of motherhood, the public scrutiny she faced, the grief she suffered after the loss of her husband, and her exposure to radiation. Ultimately, Curie emerges as an astonishingly resilient figure whose contributions to science and courage during adversity make her an enduring example, and a woman whose powerful legacy continues to inspire today.

Marco Polo

Biographies & Memoirs

Sappiamo che Marco Polo rimase in viaggio, lontano da Venezia per circa 25 anni, ma durante quel periodo poche sono le scansioni cronologiche sicure. Il Milione resta un libro misterioso: è un diario di viaggio? Un mélange di fantastico e di reale? È un testo di pratica di mercatura arricchito dalla prosa del Rustichello? Per rispondere a queste domande partiremo dal contesto originario del veneziano: il Mediterraneo nella seconda metà del Duecento e lo seguiremo in viaggio, lungo la via della seta, fino alla Cina e all’India. Ripercorreremo con lui i luoghi che visitò per scoprire uno sguardo molto più attento alla realtà di quanto non si creda; uno sguardo che non si soffermava solo sulle merci e le ricchezze, ma che comunicava all’Occidente particolari inediti sull’antropologia, i costumi, i riti, delle società osservate. Se ancora oggi emergono dubbi sulla realtà del viaggio di Marco Polo, la posizione di questo libro è chiara: il veneziano visitò l’Asia e la descrisse come nessuno aveva mai fatto prima di lui. E poiché la vita è un viaggio, il viaggio di Marco Polo sarà la sua biografia.

Der rote Kaiser

Biographies & Memoirs

Xi Jinping herrscht über 1,4 Milliarden Menschen und die zweitgrößte Volkswirtschaft der Welt. Dennoch ist überraschend wenig über ihn bekannt. Der erfahrene Auslandskorrespondent Michael Sheridan hat alles zusammengetragen, was er in 20 Jahren aus Insiderberichten und eigenen Reportagen über den chinesischen Staatspräsidenten recherchieren konnte, und zeichnet das bislang wohl detaillierteste Bild des starken Mannes in Peking und seines Werdegangs.Als Sohn einer der einflussreichsten Familien des kommunistischen China wurde der junge Xi während der Kulturrevolution aufs Land verbannt. List, Privilegien und Intrigen bahnten ihm den Weg zurück an die Spitze. Nach dem spektakulären Sturz seines Rivalen Bo Xilai wurde Xi Jinping 2012 zum Staatschef Chinas.In dieser Zeit entwickelt sich China vom armen, isolierten Land der Jugend Xis zur militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Supermacht von heute. In Xis neuem China kämpfen Familienmafias inmitten von Mord, Korruption und Sexskandalen um die Macht, während Minister und Generäle in Säuberungsaktionen verschwinden. Xi ist ein absoluter Herrscher, dessen Wort Gesetz ist, von Krieg und Frieden bis hin zum rücksichtslosen Kampf gegen Covid-19. Er strebt danach, den Welthandel zu dominieren, die westliche Demokratie zu besiegen und China als größte Macht im Osten zu etablieren. Michael Sheridan enthüllt, dass sich hinter der Fassade der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas eine moderne Dynastie und ein neuer Kaiser verbergen.

The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1934–1939

Biographies & Memoirs

The second volume of “one of the most remarkable diaries in the history of letters” (Los Angeles Times). Beginning with the author’s arrival in New York, this diary recounts Anaïs Nin’s work as a psychoanalyst, and is filled with the stories of her analytical patients—as well as her musings over the challenges facing the artist in the modern world. The diary of this remarkably daring and candid woman provides a deeply intimate look inside her mind, as well as a fascinating chapter in her tumultuous life in the latter years of the 1930s.

My Life Revealed (ediz. UK)

Biographies & Memoirs

In a direct and spontaneous dialogue, the legendary American psychologist Philip Zimbardo talks about his life and career: his childhood in the Bronx, his university education at Yale, his friendship with Stanley Milgram, his appointment to the Stanford psychology faculty, his research, and his contributions in the psychological field and in the academic context, as well as his involvement in political activism, from meeting Malcolm X to writing an article on President Donald Trump's mental health, published in Psychology Today. The resulting memoir is a rich collection of moving stories and insightful reflections on his career and his intellectual legacy. The text - edited by Daniel Hartwig - is in interview form and is part of the Stanford Historical Society's Oral History Program in collaboration with the Stanford University Archives.

Mein Leben für die Demokratie

Biographies & Memoirs

Der kalifornische Gouverneur und prominente Widersacher Donald Trumps erzählt seine Geschichte: inspirierend, bewegend und zutiefst persönlich.In seiner Autobiographie zeichnet Gavin Newsom seinen Weg auf die große politische Bühne nach. Er berichtet von den Erlebnissen, die ihn dazu inspirierten, Politiker zu werden – und von den Werten und Idealen, die ihn als Mensch prägen. Gavin Newsom wurde in San Francisco geboren, und seine Eltern ließen sich scheiden, als er noch klein war. Seine Kindheit verbrachte er zwischen zwei Welten: Seine Mutter hatte drei Jobs, um für ihre Kinder sorgen zu können, unterdessen führte sein Vater Newsom in eine Gesellschaft ein, in der Reichtum und Beziehungen bestimmend waren. Die Perspektive war widersprüchlich, aber wertvoll: Er erbte die Beharrlichkeit und Resilienz seiner Mutter ebenso wie die Liebe seines Vaters zu Kalifornien, nicht nur für seine ungezähmte Landschaft, sondern auch für seine unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten.In »Mein Leben für die Demokratie« erzählt Newsom, wie seine Geschichte einen Politiker aus ihm gemacht hat, der seiner Zeit stets um ein paar Schritte voraus ist: Als Bürgermeister von San Francisco ermöglichte er die Ehe für alle, zehn Jahre bevor der Oberste Gerichtshof sie legalisierte. Er startete mutige Initiativen zur Bekämpfung des Klimawandels, zur Verbesserung der psychischen Gesundheitsversorgung und engagierte sich für strengere Waffengesetze. »Mein Leben für die Demokratie« bietet zum ersten Mal einen Einblick in Gavin Newsoms politische Motivationen, seine Überzeugungen und Visionen. Und damit einen echten Hoffnungsschimmer in finsteren Zeiten.

Is That All There Is?

Biographies & Memoirs

Praised by the New York Times Book Review as “fascinating, suspenseful, careful, musically detailed, and insightful,” this is a long-overdue biography of recording artist and musical legend Peggy Lee.Miss Peggy Lee cast a spell when she sang. She epitomized cool, but her trademark song, “Fever”—covered by Beyoncé and Madonna—is the essence of sizzling sexual heat. Her jazz sense dazzled Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. She was the voice of swing, the voice of blues, and she provided four of the voices for Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, whose score she co-wrote. But who was the woman behind the Mona Lisa smile?With elegant writing and impeccable research, including interviews with hundreds who knew Lee, acclaimed music journalist James Gavin offers the most revealing look yet at an artist of infinite contradictions and layers. Lee was a North Dakota prairie girl who became a temptress of enduring mystique. She was a singer-songwriter before the term existed. Lee “had incredible confidence onstage,” observed the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop; yet inner turmoil wracked her. She spun a romantic nirvana in her songs, but couldn’t sustain one in reality. As she passed middle age, Lee dwelled increasingly in a bizarre dreamland. She died in 2002 at the age of eighty-one, but the enchantment with Lee has only grown.“Raucously entertaining [and] full of evocative scenes, wry humor and exasperated sympathy” (Publishers Weekly), Is That All There Is? paints a masterful portrait of an artist who redefined popular singing.

Alexander Hamilton

Biographies & Memoirs

O livro que inspirou o badalado musical da Broadway sobre o personagem que estabeleceu os fundamentos da economia americanaInspiração para o musical de sucesso da Broadway, Alexander Hamilton é a primeira biografia completa de Hamilton em décadas. Autor premiado, Ron Chernow conta a cativante história de um homem que superou inúmeros obstáculos para moldar, inspirar e escandalizar os Estados Unidos recém-constituídos. Hamilton, um órfão ilegítimo e autodidata do Caribe, veio de origens humildes para tomar a América de assalto, se tornar um dos grandes colaboradores de George Washington e um dos principais arquitetos do sistema econômico e financeiro dos Estados Unidos, sendo o primeiro secretário do Tesouro do país.A obra mostra que a excelência e o sucesso da economia americana são resultado da perseverança desse personagem em emplacar suas ideias, como a criação de um banco central e o poder de tributação do Congresso sobre os estados. Chernow faz um relato fundamental sobre o nascimento dos Estados Unidos conduzido por uma de suas figuras centrais, não se isentando de tratar de suas polêmicas mais espinhosas, incluindo o protagonismo de Hamilton no primeiro grande escândalo sexual do país e sua suposta depressão.

El universo de cristal

Biographies & Memoirs

A mediados del siglo XIX, el Observatorio de Harvard comenzó a emplear a mujeres como calculadoras o "computadoras humanas" para interpretar las observaciones que sus contrapartes masculinas realizaban por telescopio cada noche. Al principio este grupo incluía a las esposas, hermanas e hijas de los astrónomos residentes, pero pronto incluyó a graduadas de las nuevas universidades de mujeres Vassar, Wellesley y Smith. A medida que la fotografía transformaba la práctica de la astronomía, las damas pasaban de la computación a estudiar las estrellas capturadas en placas fotográficas de vidrio.El universo de cristal del medio millón de placas que Harvard acumuló durante las décadas siguientes permitió a las mujeres hacer descubrimientos extraordinarios: ayudaron a identificar de qué estaban hechas las estrellas, las dividieron en categorías significativas y encontraron una manera de medir distancias en el espacio por la luz que emiten. Entre estas mujeres destacaban Williamina Fleming, una escocesa contratada originalmente como criada que identificó diez novas y más de trescientas estrellas variables; Annie Jump Cannon, que diseñó un sistema de clasificación estelar adoptado por los astrónomos de todo el mundo y que sigue vigente; y la doctora Cecilia Helena Payne, que en 1956 se convirtió en la primera profesora titular de astronomía, y la primera mujer jefa de departamento de Harvard.

The Bear Doesn't Know

Biographies & Memoirs

In The Bear Doesn’t Know, Paul Schullery—honored naturalist, storyteller, and former Yellowstone ranger—has given us a bear-lover’s book of wonders. It is rich in the joy, beauty, inspiration, and pure fun to be had during a life well lived in bear country. While exploring the cultural complications of an animal we have long both feared and adored, he chronicles the bumpy course of our coming to terms with the mysteries of bear ecology and behavior. Schullery brings to the matter of bears a long view—of our centuries-long and always-evolving perception of wild bears, of the scientific exploration of bear ecology and behavior, and of the sometimes bitter struggles to protect bear populations for the future. Featuring Schullery’s trademark gifts for historical inquiry and scientific translation, as well as for mixing humor with telling insight, Schullery enlivens The Bear Doesn’t Know with many of his own quirky tales of life in the wildlands of North America and in the obscure realms of bear folklore and literature. North America’s bears have become universally recognized symbols of wild landscapes and the struggles to preserve them. In this collection, Schullery illuminates and celebrates the bears and their world, making plain why they always have and always will matter so much to us.

Civil Rights Guardians

Biographies & Memoirs

Civil Rights Guardians illuminates the crucial, often untold, stories of the legal professionals who shaped the American civil rights landscape. It focuses on the lawyers, judges, and activists who strategically dismantled racial segregation and challenged discriminatory policies. The book highlights how these legal minds advanced civil rights, emphasizing that progress wasn't solely due to legislation but also to persistent legal challenges. For example, the book details the historical and legal context of civil rights law, tracing its evolution from post-Reconstruction to the present day while exploring key Supreme Court decisions. This biography uniquely emphasizes the legal strategies and battles within the civil rights movement, offering fresh insights through original archival research. The book progresses by introducing foundational civil rights principles, then focusing on specific areas like education and voting rights, and culminates by exploring contemporary challenges such as immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. By focusing on legal professionals, Civil Rights Guardians provides a richer understanding of how law shapes society and safeguarding democratic values.

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